Aqualillies for Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Eye and Cheek Palette Review

Hello lovelies and here is another review with Tarte’s new limited edition waterproof eye and cheek palette called Aqualillies just in time for wallowing by your local poolside with vibrant colors.             

This palette slipped under my radar the first time around because I got gobsmacked by shinier things (Too Faced Loves Sephora palette) but now that my head is cleared I was able to give this lovely palette the love it deserves…and it is quite lovely indeed.

This is a very summery palette built with a waterproof formula to tide you over while you’re at the pool with a color wheel array of 6×0.04 oz eyeshadow, 0.23 oz of blush, 0.14 oz shimmery highlight powder, and 0.13 oz mineral bronzer.  All formulated with Tarte’s infamous Amazonian clay without parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and not a touch of animal testing.  All packaged in one strikingly beautiful gold, teal, and red plastic palette with a gigantic mirror.

Everything is so soft and pretty with the most perfectly balanced, complimentary selection of summer colors.  Even if the eyeshadow shades look a tad on the “safe” side of being classic and feminine, I highly suggest giving this palette a look over at least for the blush and bronzer.

The blush is so fab.  Called Captivating, its perfectly coral making it an easy wear for most skin-types for that gorgeous summer flush.  Let’s explore now in swatches!

I’ve taken from left to right swatches of this palette’s Captivating blush, Park Avenue Princess bronzer, and Champagne shimmer.  Captivating is as its name and blends like a dream.  I love Tarte’s blushes because they give me a good day’s worth of lasting power without fading but this shade is just so beautifully flattering and easy to lay without looking overpowering.  One very foolproof blush.  Park Avenue Princess is also a lovely matte brown bronzer and is VERY similar to Chocolate Soleil but without the chocolate fragrance.  As such, this palette might very well intrigue some bronze hunters who might otherwise abhor fragrance in their makeup.  Champagne is much like its namesake with a classically soft shimmer that glistens across your cheeks with nary a sparkle or shed of glitter in sight to attack your pores.  It’s just one awesome highlight that I’m on the fence if I like this over my Watt’s Up! highlighter because it’s just as flattering in a straight-up powder format so it’s a less dewy, drier finished version of the Benefit highlighter and lasts me a hours.  I feel like this highlight is going to be used a lot over the summer from me.

The eyeshadow is a delight.  Left to right in order:  Hammock, Bikini, Barefoot, Parasol, Sundeck, and Poolside.  Soft and shimmery for the most part and no glitter.  Most likely for the best to have no glitter as this is intended for poolside wear and I shudder to think of glitter being summer-friendly with sweat and water moving it all around your face.  The formula itself goes on soft and smooth, goes on a lot better than previous Tarte shadows I’ve played with in the past.

First set of up-close swatches with Hammock, Bikini, and Barefoot.  Hammock is a deep, dark coffee brown.  Bikini is a duo-chrome golden sand with pinky undertones as light reflects off it.  Barefoot is also a sandy champagne beige.

Here are the second set of up-close swatches with Parasol, Sundeck, and Poolside.  Parasol is a pale white shimmer.  Sundeck is a matte terracotta brown.  Poolside is a soft teal.

As for waterproof?  Well, that’s the palette’s claim so I took my swatches in the shower and gave it a whirl with my basic morning shower routine.  Sure, to be fair it’s hot water and with some soapy risks but if it can last on my arms with that much exposure then it’ll last some dunks in the pool with chlorine, right?

Here are my results post-shower.  Left arm had my blush, bronzer, and shimmer.  Right arm had the 6 shadows set across like in previous swatches.  There were mild fading across the board but not so much that you’d have to reapply entirely, and again, these tests were done in hot water so cool water will be less harsh.  I wouldn’t say these were “waterproof” so much as “water-resistant” though and at least when it fades it does so evenly rather than in patches like some shadows are likely to do so it still looks flattering albeit lighter.

Overall lovelies, that’s Aqualillies in a nutshell.  It’s a pretty palette worth a peek that will have a place in your summer stash.  The bronzer, blush, and highlight are gorgeous and reason enough to pick this up and the eyeshadow are flattering across the board.  If you’ve used this palette before or palette suggestions please let me know what you think in the comments below!

Tutorial: Jasmine Storylook Palette

Hello lovelies!  I’ve been in a playful mood this afternoon and wanted to share with you a summery look I’m wearing today with my Jasmine Storylook Palette that I reviewed a while back.

It’s just a cute eye look that plays lightly with yellows, oranges, and reds for a touch of summer.

The Jasmine Storylook Palette is a lovely palette to play with some hot shades.  After some prep with my Urban Decay Primer Potion, I brushed Ali Ababwa on my brow.  Next I brushed Cave of Wonders over my entire lid and inner corner.  I patted Rajah in the middle of my lid followed by working Arabian Sunset in the shape of a “V” in my outer lid corner then gently blended the three colors together, adding more color as I blended.  I softly blended Master into my crease, working it into Arabian Sunset.  I then lined with black eyeliner along my eyelid with a small cat eye in the outer corner.  A quick press with my eyelash curler and mascara and voila!

It was just fun to break out the reds and oranges this afternoon.  I went on the soft side but you can definitely bump the color with a few more layers OR prep your lids first with a white cream eyeshadow before applying the rest of your colors to act as a base and really AMP that color up!  Never underestimate the power of a white cream base to make your shadows pop brightly. 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this look and if you have any suggestions for future tutorials feel free to pop in the comments below!  Until then, stay lovely!

Too Faced Loves Sephora 15 Years of Beauty Palette Review

Hello lovelies! May is here and Too Faced just released recently a few weeks ago their Too Faced Loves Sephora 15 Years of Beauty Palette as a new limited edition exclusive to Sephora.  Phew, that’s a mouthful of a name for a palette! I was so excited about seeing this that I knew it had to be mine.

          

This little bad boy has $245 USD worth of product for a smooth $52 USD.  Numbers are just numbers so let me count the number of goodies this palette contains in its slim case adorably modeled after Sephora’s recognizable black and white stripes.  You might have to sit down for this because this palette smorgasbord has ten full-sized 0.06 oz of eyeshadow, two 0.14 oz bronzers in Chocolate Soleil and Sun Bunny, 0.14 oz of Who’s Your Poppy blush, a 0.11 oz travel-sized tube of Shadow Insurance Primer, an adorable travel-sized flat kabuki brush, and an instructional Glamour Guide booklet with 15 different looks using this palette.  Too Faced truly does love Sephora.  This, I warn you, is going to be a swatch-tastic review of epic proportions.

Be still my beating heart, look at all that product in a streamlined metal palette.  It’s all cruelty-free and formulated without parabens for the conscientious user. This is not as BIG as Too Faced’s 2012 holiday Sweet Indulgence palette that I reviewed a while back but it’s still worth every penny and more from all the goodies Too Faced snuck into this slim metal case making this a much more travel-friendly palette built with literally all you need aside from your foundation for a trip.

So much shadow-lisciousness in one tin.  These shadows came out awesome in swatching.  Here are all the lovelies laid out in a row left to right: Piano Keys, So Cal, TF Hearts The Cast, Jer Jer, 525 Market, Beyond the Counter, Soho, Envy, David & Marg, and 1998.  I couldn’t resist swatching these a couple of times and taking pictures outside so you can see just how the light reflects on these powerfully pigmented shades varying from soft satin finishes to frosty shimmer delights but no true mattes in this palette.  They all have that silky smooth texture and wear amazingly well for a full 8-hour day over primer with no creasing or fading much like what you would expect from Too Faced with no noticeable fallout.  Let’s explore these colors further!

Here I have swatched left to right in chunks: Piano Keys, So Cal, Behind the Counter, and Soho.  Piano Keys is a lovely beige colored highlight that I THOUGHT would be matte but closer inspection I saw little flecks of glitter that give this a velvet finish.  Definitely beautiful and subtle without looking like a glitter bomb.  So Cal appears as a soft blushing pink with a pearl luster.  Behind the Counter is a taupe with a satin finish.  Finally Soho is a frosted mauve. 

Second set of eyeshadow swatches are: TF Heart’s The Cast, Jer Jer, and 525 Market.  TF Heart’s The Cast is a metallic gold but not in a traditional golden shade…it comes off to me like raw gold ore where it’s not the shade you find in processed, pure gold.  It’s an awkward explanation but the way light hits it outside in natural lighting gives it an unprocessed ore look that washes out the gold making it almost come out like a metallic graphite but indoor lighting brought out the pale gold undertones that you see in the pan.  Jer Jer is more straightforward shade in a bold metallic coppery-gold.  525 Market is another bold mettalic in a pure reddish copper.

Third set is Envy, David & Marg, and 1998.  Envy is a glam dark purple with a shimmer finish.  David & Marg is a bright metallic teal.  I just want to line my lids in that blue, it’s so hot.  1998 is a hot pink with glitter.

Next up are Too Faced’s amazing blush and bronzer set.  Left to right in swatching is Chocolate Soleil, Sun Bunny split into the upper light shade, the lower dark shade, and a blended swatch of both colors.  The fifth and final one is a swatch of Who’s Your Poppy blush.  As soon as I opened up my tin I was hit with that yummy smell of Chocolate Soleil and unlike my deluxe sample compact, the fragrance lingers longer on my skin.  It’s amazing but some folks may find scented products a turn-off.  I love Chocolate Soleil not just for its amazing scent but because it’s the perfect brown matte bronzer shade for contouring as well as giving you a natural summer glow with no orange undertones.  Very pigmented as it is, just use a light touch to make this perfect for both fair to medium skin tones.  Sun Bunny is a shimmer bronze with some orange undertone so fair skin tones may prefer to use the lighter shade by itself (second swatch) versus the darker half (third swatch) which is better suited for medium tones.  You can blend both for a strong, coppery tone (fourth swatch) but use lightly and tap off excess on your brush or you may come out too orange.

Finally, Who’s Your Poppy is a beautiful blush on the fifth swatch bar that is VERY close to Nars Orgasm but just a touch more of a natural peach flush that it looks very flattering.  It’s a rare comparison that I make to Nars Orgasm because I’m in that rare camp that Orgasm appears a little unflattering or unnatural on my medium skin tone.  I know, it’s unfair but I can deal.  Who’s Your Poppy just happens to be that right shade that has the same effect on my skin tone that I envied in how awesome Orgasm appeared on other women.  It’s like I finally get to enjoy the shade that everyone else gets to but just for a wee bit less on my pocket book.  Again, this I can deal.  😀

The final bits of the palette is the flat kabuki brush and the mini eyeshadow primer in Shadow Insurance.  The brush is a cute addition and the bristles are very, very soft.  It’s made with Too Faced’s infamous “Teddy Bear Hair” synthetic bristles.  I prefer my brushes a little stiffer for blush and bronzer application but it’s a nice addition even if it may not get a lot of use from me.  The primer is a very solid addition to round out this bad boy and will give you the same coverage as say Urban Decay’s Primer Potion.  It’s one of those “po-TAY-to po-TA-to” deals as far as eyeshadow primers go that both Shadow Insurance and Primer Potion work similar enough that it becomes an intense debate among primer fan camps.

In addition to the other goodies above, Too Faced includes a dual-sided Glamour Guide booklet of 15 different looks front to back so this gives you a plethora of styles to pick from if you’re not sure how to use this palette.  You’ll find there is a lot to choose with everything under the sun you can do from soft, neutral day looks to some playful dabbling in colors before going all out with some sultry hot smokey eyes and daring glam rocker looks.  Seriously, if you have no idea what to do with these or wondered how to do a certain look, Too Faced walks you by the hand making sure you enjoy the heck out of this palette or at least inspire you to try something different with your look so nothing goes to waste.

Overall this is an awesome limited edition palette that I highly recommend picking up. Its overall value alone combined with its flattering selection of products make this phenomenal across the board for a variety of skin types.  The blush is just universally flattering in a shimmery peach.  I love that they gave you both a classic brown matte bronzer which works so well for contouring and is so very flattering.  The dual shimmer bronzer is also nice by giving you both tri-fold shimmer options with the light/dark halves or the choice to blend both together so this bronzer is very flexible for most skin types.  Combine that with an amazing selection of silky smooth eyeshadow, I couldn’t find a dud among them and didn’t find any fallout problems.  They’re just such gorgeous colors and nothing is overwhelming with your Glamour Guide at your side to ease you in to all there is to play with in this palette.

That is all, my lovelies!  I hope you folks get to play with this palette and let me know what you thought of this new palette in the comments below.

Kat Von D Ladybird Palette Review

Hello lovelies!  It’s another…awesome…Kat Von D eyeshadow palette but this time…with a twist!  An all matte palette.  I sometimes drool at eyeshadow during makeup shopping especially when it pertains to my sacred favorite three: Urban Decay, Too Faced, and Kat Von D.  You then say all matte and I get downright lightheaded.

I know, I know…I love Kat Von D makeup.  I kind of obsess a little over her Sephora exclusive makeup line but her eyeshadow is surprisingly great quality marked at a reasonable price-point.  I’m usually disappointed by “celeb” endorsed makeup these days (*cough*-Charlotte Ronson) but darn it, those Kat Von D eyeshadow palettes make me swoon both in packaging and performance.

The newest palette to the Kat Von D line is her new Ladybird palette featuring a set of eight 0.05 oz matte shadow and one 0.028 oz Mini Autograph Pencil in Immortal Love.  It retails exclusively at Sephora for $36 USD.  All this is encased in a gorgeous black tin embossed in a purple to pink gradient with a giant mirror.  The cover has an image of Kat Von D with her hair transforming into feathers a’la a lady-bird…not as in the insect ladybird/ladybug.  Maybe the palette is named after the song “Ladybird” by Tears for Fears?  Speculations for another day.

As mentioned earlier, this is an all matte palette.  Folks might initially be turned off by the all-matte finish but there are benefits with working with mattes.  They are great on mature eyes because they don’t highlight creases and fine lines like shimmers and sparkly glitter shadow does.  You can also combine them with your other eyeshadow palettes to soften a look up.  They also make a great day look and appear professional at work in place of bright shimmers.  In fact, most “balanced” eyeshadow palettes tend to throw in 1 or 2  good matte colors in a highlight color and/or a dark color for crease blending.

Colors listed from left to right are Für Elise, Vespertine, Renholdër, Siouxsie-sioux, Unrequited, Harlow, Wölf, and Cleopatra.  These colors are lovely and by the names seem to mostly have a music-related theme varying with references to different artists, songs, and albums.  The palette has a good color range of warm and cool mattes that can help round out your eyeshadow stash.  As you can tell from the color selection, by itself this palette leans on the soft and romantic and isn’t as bright and bold as some of her previous palettes.  Color swatches are still very pigmented but it will run on the softer side compared to previous palettes like Beethoven or Sinner.  Lasting time during tests are on par with previous KVD palettes and will easily last you a full 8-10 hour period over an eyelid primer with no fading or creasing.

First swatch set is with Für Elise, Vespertine, Renholdër, and Siouxsie-sioux.  Für Elise is a plum purple with reddish undertones.  Vespertine is a cream color and high pigmented even for blending over darker colors during touch-ups.  It helped me blend out Für Elise on my lid when I accidentally went too dark outside my crease making Vespertine great for softening a shade when you’ve gone a touch too dark.  Renholdër is a comforting mushroom colored taupe.  Siouxsie-sioux is an unusual one that comes out as a very dark navy that looks almost black but not quite.

Second set of swatches: Unrequited, Harlow, Wölf, and Cleopatra.  Unrequited is a light cashew brown shade.  Harlow is a light cocoa brown.  Wölf is a rich mahogany likened to a warmer version of Leather in the Beethoven and Ludwig palettes.  Cleopatra is a russet shade of brown, warm with burnt red undertones.

Finally is the Mini Autograph Pencil in Immortal Love which is a chocolatey brown.  Much like the rest of Kat Von D’s other Autograph Pencils, Immortal Love is a rich liner that goes on effortlessly smooth on your water line and rarely budges or fades after application.  I love that this liner is in a brown instead of another black like Puro Amor.  I do love Puro Amor but this palette is going for a softer, more natural touch which brown compliments very well instead of a true black.

Overall this is a solid matte eyeshadow collection with a variety of both warm and cool tones and branches out with a matte navy and purple in addition to the neutral highlight and brown shades.  The formula is rich and applies smoothly with no dry or chalky texture.

Something to keep in mind, this is a no-nonsense kind of matte collection with a very practical selection of shades so if you already have a large eyeshadow collection beyond Kat Von D’s products then you may already own some dupes.  As mentioned before, many “balanced” eyeshadow palettes tend to have a matte or two already and with this set you’ll find a number of shades that are very useful compliments to a number of natural day looks.  You’ll probably see some comparison with Ladybirdy to Urban Decay’s mostly matte Naked Basics palette (Venus has shimmer).  There is enough of a difference between the two that Ladybird can hold its own with its light to medium variety versus Naked Basics focus on primarily much lighter shades.  Frankly, I’d choose Ladybird over Naked Basics as a result.

If you have mostly Kat Von D eyeshadow then this will compliment the rest of her collection without any dupe overlap.  Like, seriously, I’m surprised there is no Lucifer in this one.  Siouxsie-sioux comes VERY close at first but the dark navy undertones make it uniquely different.  Lucifer is the one KVD black matte that appears in most of her palettes.  Let me repeat that in caps because it bears repeating given everyone and their mama always complains when Lucifer gets repackaged eating up a possible new color spot: NO LUCIFER IN THIS PALETTE!!  It’s actually refreshing to write that because if you have Beethoven, Ludwig, Sinner, True Love, Metal Orchestra, Gypsy, etc then you have Lucifer already.  I will never run out of Lucifer…ever.

Well, lovelies, I can say I’m very satisfied with Ladybird and this is a great Kat Von D palette to round out your eyeshadow collection.  Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried it and what you think or if you have any other suggestions for matte palettes!

Monthly Favorites March 2013

Hello lovelies!

Got back earlier this week refreshed and feeling awesome from my UK trip!  Lots of pictures between London to the Isle of Skye in Scotland to go through and edit back for some type of travel scrapbook.  Anyway, on to the items I used often in March…before it becomes May!

Top Left to Right: Too Faced Boudoir Eyes palette, Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Blush in Exposed.
Bottom Left to Right: Benefit Watt’s Up, Tarte Maracuja Oil, Neutrogina Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup in Soft Beige 50.

March was a good month, a little dry on my skin but not as dry as February was but I might still be adapting to the New England area which has a lot less moisture in the air than down south.  All in all I did a bit of traveling and a lot of running around but these were my favorites that I stuck to using frequently.

My absolute favorite palette that I still cling to and actually forced myself to leave behind from my UK trip is my Too Faced Boudoir Eyes.  Can you believe I got this new at the end of February?  A few weeks later I’ve made some headway into the shadow pans.  I sadly even made a chip by accident in Garter Belt!  In the Buff is by far my favorite brow highlight right now and there are dents in French Tickler from my angled eye liner brush.  Overall, this is an awesome palette for some soft, natural day looks with a lot of leeway for some darker, sultry evening eyes.

My other favorite this past month has been my Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed.  It’s one of those shades that doesn’t look impressive in the pan but in swatching it creates a soft flush that looks so natural on the cheeks without much effort making this an easy choice to grab when I’m rushed for time in the morning.

Benefit’s Watt’s Up! was  goodie I had in a deluxe sample-sized little tube for my Sephora birthday gift (on right) and ended up loving it so much that I bought the full-sized before my UK trip.  I still brought the mini on vacation but the full-sized is sitting pretty in its box until I can do a proper full review on it.  It’s awesome and gives a nice dewy, luminous glow.  *drools*  I’ll get a full review up soon!

Next up is Tarte’s Pure Maracuja Oil.  This ALSO was a mini deluxe sample that I got in a larger set a while back.  It was cute and little but lately I ended up loving it more and more as a day face oil that I grabbed up the full size for it as well when Ulta had their Month of Beauty deals and had the full size on sale.  Like, I love you, Maracuja Oil, I love you a lot..not sure though if I love you at full price at $46 USD but at $26 USD I love you enough not to resist picking up.   I brought the mini on vacation and will end up reusing the mini as my cute travel bottle.

What really impressed me though was it works fast on damaged skin.  The weather was so dry and cold in London and Scotland that it tore my boyfriend’s skin a new one and he had red splotchy skin and heavily breaking out because of the climate.  Near the end of the trip I forced him to use the oil with a little coaxing and he was looking all better in a day or two.  I sadly needed a stronger face oil during the trip because I underestimated the climate as well and in all honesty SHOULD have brought my Badger face oil instead to soothe the dry spots on my combination skin but the maracuja did the job well enough with just more use of the oil around my dry areas.  I’ll have to dig up vacation pictures if he’ll let me post before and after of his embarrassingly splotchy skin for all the world to see.  Will do a more thorough review in the future.  🙂

Finally, last but not least, I really liked Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Liquid foundation in Soft Beige 50.  I picked it up on recommendation by other blogs because drugstore foundation hunting alone isn’t easy or my strongest point when you can’t swatch and test in-store and who wants to buy foundations without testing or swatching?  This has a luminous finish that works well with my combination skin.  As for coverage, I broke out a little prior to my trip from stress/excitement but this foundation helped cover up blemishes and after a few days my skin cleared up quickly.  I can’t say if the foundation’s formula helped my skin acne recover faster or slower (a’la the “healthy skin promoting formula”) so I won’t make that claim but I did like the coverage when I HAD the acne.

Well, lovelies, that’s March in a nutshell!  I cannot wait for all that is in-store for April with warmer weather and more sunshine to brighten our days.  Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products and what you think OR if you have items you recommend!  😀

Overseas Traveling: London 12 Days

Hello lovelies again! This week was just a lot of errands being done pre-London trip.  Looks like we were able to squeeze Scotland into our 12-day itinerary which is exciting!  I put together just a more solid makeup travel pack since I’ll be going overseas for 12 days adverse to just a week’s trip to Florida with friends and family.  Some of this will be a rehash of my previous “Makeup Basic Airline Travel” entry so you’ll notice I’ll brush over some things rather quickly like TSA regulations, mini-travel sized love explanations, etc so I can just focus on the alterations I’ve made with this pack and why but you are more than welcome to go check out the older entry for basic makeup travel bag packing ideas.  🙂

As always, I’m using my fab favorite Tokidoki travel bag with all the right nooks and crannies to fit what I need where I need them.  I’m a little bit anal about my makeup storage when traveling but it makes my trip easier when I know where to grab what I need without having to take everything apart or go digging in some bottomless pit that some makeup bags end up looking like by the end of the week.

I’m carting along my usual makeup brushes like an angled blush, angled bronzer, and eyeshadow brushes (eyeliner, crease, and basic lid application).  One thing to make note, I added a Mary Kay flat headed brush and a wooden Sonia Kashuk blush brush to play with a different way of applying blush for one of my heavier pigmented brushes.  Not exactly “space efficient” to include redundancy in my brushes here but all of them are relatively small and travel friendly so they fit easily into a small makeup bag.

Bam!   They all fit and with plenty of room for other goodies in that little bag no bigger than a small pencil case.

As I said, plenty of room for other goodies…I slipped in a couple eyeliner pencils in black, brown, and purple.  A few are pre-sharpened ahead of time and one is one those clickable ones that don’t require sharpening.

For face products, I’ve got my handy-dandy mini-sized Too Faced bronzer in Chocolate Soleil.  A great matte finish for both contouring and bronzing without fussy glitter.

I’m bringing my deluxe sample-sized Watt’s Up! highlighter.  London is going to be a little dreary this time of year and I want a little glowing pick-me-up.

For blush, I’m tossing in three Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes in Blissful, Exposed, and Flushed.  Blissful is a cute peachy pink.  Exposed looks like it’ll be unimpressive in brown in the pan but is really a very flattering natural flush to your cheeks and is hard to screw up.  Flushed is the tricky but lovely plummy-mauve blush that needs just a soft touch but the results are fab on medium skin tones…thus for this ONE blush I’m willing to bring that separate wooden Sonia Kashuk brush just to make it work.

For eyeshadow I really struggled HARD not to bring my Boudoir Eyes palette because it’s been by my side all month but in its place I’m popping in Urban Decay’s Naked 2 palette.  I’ll admit this but the Naked 2 palette has been in my possession for a while as a Christmas present but I’ve not given it much love because of all the palettes that I’ve been swatching and testing lately so I figured isolating myself with this for twelve days will give me the push I need to play with it.  Normally I do not recommend bringing palettes on a long vacation that you’ve not played with for reasons like discovering last minute skin sensitivities, breakouts, or even just not liking the color pigmentation or formula but I’m breaking this rule because Urban Decay is a pretty solid brand and the colors are definitely workable shades for a number of looks that I’ve used with Boudoir Eyes and a few other neutral palettes I’ve had in the past.  Let’s be honest, UD Naked palettes are generally a pretty darn safe bet and this one has a wide range of neutrals and if I’m desperate there are similar shades to replicate some of my favorite Boudoir Eyes card looks in a pinch.

For lippies I threw together a grab bag of some lip glosses, lipsticks, and balms.  It really is kind of a hectic grab-bag of stuff but I popped in a pair of mauve-tinted colors in Glamour Gloss and Mary Kay lip gloss.  There’s also an Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Color lipstick in Glinda for a natural color in my bag.  For added moisture in the London cold, I’ve a Blistix in Triple Tropical and a Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted lip balm.  I also tossed in Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart for a pop of red and Benefit’s Full-Finish in Gabbi for a pink with cool undertones.

Hard to see in the earlier picture but here are those two regular lipsticks so you can get an idea of the shade variety I’m going with from natural to mauve in my glosses to pink to cherry red in my lipsticks.

Now, I know I can check in a bag when traveling overseas but given I want a lot of room to bring back goodies, I followed TSA rules for liquid limitations for carry-ons as a guideline to cut corners on packing.  It’s not going to save you a ton of space but what’s the point of me bringing full sized containers of anything like shampoo or body lotion when a mini will work or going overboard on stuff I end up not using in the 12 days I’m there like four tubes of mascara or a ton of lip gloss?  Yeah, in that perspective, forcing a limit just makes it easier for me not to go overboard because you don’t want a luggage half full of stuff you won’t end up using!  For liquids, I’ve Clinique High Impact Mascara, Maybelline Full ‘N Soft mascara, UD Primer Potion, mini-body lotion of Paris Amour, Neutrogena Healthy Skin liquid foundation in Soft Buff, a mini hand sanitizer, a small pack of generic store brand makeup remover wipes, a travel-sized perfume pump filled with whatever perfume suits your fancy, and a mini of Tarte Maracuja Oil.

I’ve swapped the Maracuja Oil in place of my usual Badger Damascus Rose Oil because while the Badger oil is an awesome nighttime oil, the Maracuja Oil is moisturizing enough for night but also feels light enough that I like it during the day.  Ultimately I still use my Badger at home and the Maracuja is my day choice but I just didn’t want to pack two face oils when one will do both relatively well for both night and day in a pinch and save me space.  I swapped the Neutrogena foundation for my old Maybelline Dream Fresh BB cream (let’s be honest, it’s a glorified tinted moisturizer) because it’s not going to be humid in London so I prefer a bit heavier coverage than a tinted moisturizer.

So I’ve got my mascara, foundation, face and body moisturizers, perfumes, hand sanitizers, and the like all fulfilled in a tiny little quart-sized clear plastic bag.  As an added notation since I’m going with the boyfriend I left the generally shared liquid products to go in his bag like toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, etc but if you’re checking in your bag for out of country travel then TSA liquid limits may not apply to certain sizes of liquid/gel products.

For last odds and ends I’ve tossed in some hair accessories and a few spare earrings in my makeup bag, dental floss, lucky compact mirror, and a eyelash curler.  I was a little disappointed but my usual ELF eyelash curler’s pads are all worn out and given it’s pretty last minute to go out and find a replacement, I just tossed this orange one I had gotten at Sephora on clearance a while ago because of it’s funky orange color.  Not a bad curler at all but the ELF one holds a special place in my heart.

Well, all set and all packed!  Will let you know how the trip goes and if I make any post-travel edits to this after the trip.  Well, lovelies, that’s all I’ve got until next time!  Let me know if you have any fun travel tips for going overseas!

Too Faced Sweet Indulgence Palette Review

Hello Lovelies!  Packing and getting ready for Pax this weekend so today I went back through my stash and found a solid goodie to put on review: Too Faced’s Sweet Indulgence Palette.  This is a not-so-new palette released during the 2012 holiday season that I bought as a holiday “indulgence” for myself but I’m back to this palette again because I saw it on clearance this past week both online and in-stores at Sephora from $52 down to $39USD (apologies in advance to future readers who see this post after it’s already been sold out online/in-store).  For some folks who may have been reluctant to pick it up during the holiday season because of the price stamp, you may seriously want to reconsider getting it now.  It has a lot of products inside even at the original price and the quality is solid.

I no longer have the original cardboard outer box but it’s not too hard to find the palette in-store or online.  This is a gorgeous pink tin with golden lettering.  Knowing my love for Too Faced’s transition to tins with Boudoir Eyes, you already know I love this reusable container.

Pop open the tin and you get a dual layer of lovely palettes.  The first palette layer contains sixteen 0.06 oz eyeshadows.  The second palette layer contains a full-sized 0.35 oz tube of Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer, two 0.14 oz bronzers in Exclusive Bronzer and Sunny Bunny Light, two 0.14 oz blushes in La Vie en Rose and Papa Don’t Peach, one 0.14 oz highlight in Candlelight Glow, 3 instructional cards, and a double-ended brush.  Overall you get a LOT of product in this tin.  Something to note, if you have a lot of Too Faced products and palettes then you’ll notice that the shadows and other colors are repeats from previous releases making this more a “favorites collections” rather than a brand-new never before seen palette collection.

Left to Right: In the Buff, Peach Fuzz, Marshmallow, and Lovey Dovey

Let’s explore some swatches now.  In the Buff is a nice matte highlight color and is also found in the new Boudoir Eyes palette.  Peach Fuzz is a matte pale pink with sparkles that you can also find in Too Faced’s Bonbon palette and was also released a few years back as a duo-shade.  Marshmallow is a shimmery white that I could just eat up as a highlight.  Lovey Dovey is a shimmery warm, cocoa brown that also made an appearance in the Bonbon palette.

Left to Right:Copper Peony, Teddy Bear, Gum Drop, Malted Milk Ball

The next row is just as lovely as the first.  Copper Peony is as the name implies, a shimmery copper.  It applies smooth as butter but then again pretty much all of the shadows apply silky smooth but this one just stood out as extra soft and rich to me.  Teddy Bear is a matte cocoa brown that was originally released as a duo shadow.  I have a soft spot for Gum Drop as this is a cute, shimmery pink that I don’t recognize from older releases.  Malted Milk Ball is also new to me and is a nice shimmery bronze.

Left to Right: Satins Sheets, Nice Stems!, Nice Ash, Cherry Cola

Here is another appearance from the Boudoir Eyes palette with Satin Sheets!  I can’t complain as I really love that shade, it’s soft and shimmery pink with gold undertones.  Nice Stems! is another fab favorite as a bright and cheery shimmer green that reminds me of springtime.  Nice Ash is a shimmery charcoal gray.   My picture doesn’t do Cherry Cola justice but it’s a deep burgundy with red sparkles and is altogether kind of different from the rest of my stash.

Left to Right: Honeymoon, Pastille, Cop a Teal, Black Sugar

Honeymoon is a gold shimmer that’s also found in the Romantic Eye palette.  Pastille is a shimmery deep evergreen.  Cop a Teal is an oddly named color because as you can tell from the swatch and in the pan, this is closer to a royal blue than a teal but is still lovely.  Finally Black Sugar is a matte black with sparkles.  Overall the color formula among all the shadows applies on buttery smooth without a hiccup and blend beautifully.

Left to Right: Exclusive Bronzer, Sun Bunny Light, Candelight Glow

On the second palette we’ll start with the bronzers and highlight shades.  These are great for fair to medium skin tones. The Exclusive is a warm brown followed by the lighter, more golden brown called Sun Bunny Light.  Both shades are shimmery.  They both give a nice glow but it would have been preferable to have just one of these be matte for optional contouring.  Candlelight is a shimmery champagne colored highlight.

Left to Right: La Vie en Rose and Papa Don’t Preach

Next are our blushes.  They apply on smooth and are easy to blend like the bronzers.  La Vie en Rose is a shimmery bright pink.  Papa Don’t Preach is a softer warm peach and is definitely a more natural alternative to La Vie en Rose’s bright pop of color on your cheeks.

The pull-out instructional go-to-look cards are precious and in the vein of previous Too Faced instructional looks.  They’re cute and brief covering only one side of the card despite that they cover a full face of makeup.  The opposite side is blank.

The dual ended brush is alright with a flat shadow brush on one end and a sponge tip on the opposite.  The flat eyeshadow brush end is nice but I wished they opted for a proper crease brush rather than a sponge on the opposite end.  In all honesty, I’d even be fine if they just made this a single head and chopped off the sponge entirely but at least it’s a higher quality sponge tip than what you find in most palettes.  Sadly, I just leave this brush in the tin rather than have it stored with my regular brushes for daily use just because of how turned off I am by the sponge applicator.

The Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer alone is worth half the palette while this palette is on clearance and is an amazing eyeshadow primer that rivals Urban Decay’s Primer Potion.  It goes on smooth and keeps your shadows looking good as the moment you applied for hours without creasing or budging.  A very, VERY good product to have on hand.  It comes out as a cream and blends in clear to provide a solid base for all your shadows.

All in all that’s the palette in a nutshell.  I definitely recommend this palette especially on clearance right now.  There is the one “downside” of this palette is it’s not travel friendly but then again it wasn’t meant to be the kind of item you just slip into your purse and I’m wary of taking this in my luggage because it seems more apt to sit pretty on my makeup table than go tossing and turning in the airport terminal.  Instead, this palette is more a giant smorgasborg of products to experience around the holidays and give you a taste of a variety of popular products under the Too Faced brand.

With that said, if you’re a person who hates redundancy and already has a vast collection of Too Faced then you might not like that there’s a number of products that are repeats from different palettes and singles both old and new with Sweet Indulgence.  Then again, I think you’re crazy if that’s the case because it’s already over a month of regular use and I’m burning a sizable dent in my Boudoir Eyes’ In the Buff alone that I welcome the dupe just to avoid hitting pan in my more travel friendly palette so early!

Well, lovelies, I hope you enjoyed this backtrack review on this clearance palette and hopefully can pick it up before it goes bye-bye!  If you have this palette already let me know in the comments below what you think of the palette and if its a nay or yay?  Until next time, stay lovely!

Kat Von D Sinner Palette Review

Hello lovelies!

Upon request I’ve pulled out from my collection a palette I adore: Kat Von D’s Sinner palette.  I’ve had it for a while so please pardon the “used appearance” of my palette but at least you know it’s been loved.  A little history on Kat Von D, she’s an American tattoo artist with a very rocker-esque style who appeared on the reality tv show Miami Ink before branching off for her own spin-off with LA Ink.  Now she’s working on a number of different projects but the one that’s relevant to our subject is her joint-makeup venture in producing her Sephora exclusive makeup line.

Now, usually I get a little apprehensive when I see celebrities try to do makeup lines and often times these products disappoint me so much that you wonder if these celebs really wear on a daily basis the crap they put their name upon these days.  Thankfully and actually very surprisingly, Miss D’s line is pretty darn solid.  Overall she made a point of wanting a line of makeup that is long lasting and so pigmented that you could cover up even the darkest and boldest of her tattoos if need be.  There are hits and misses with some of her products but the ones that have really made me happy are her Sinner and Saint palettes, one of which we’ll be exploring today: Sinner.

Sinner retails for $36 USD and comes with eight 0.5 oz eyeshadows and a 0.028 oz Mini Puro Amor Black Autograph Pencil Eyeliner.  If you owned previous Kat Von D eyeshadow palettes like Beethoven or Ludwig, you’ll notice the price jump from $34 USD but with that they got rid of the crappy little eyeshadow brushes and included the pencil eyeliner which, FYI, I’ll gladly pay an extra 2 bucks for that pencil any day of the week.

    

I love the vintage metal cigarette tin design of the package with the skull inlay.  It’s very rocker and pops open with a wide mirror for application.  The one downside of the tin is once it’s open…it just sort of lays there.  It doesn’t have that spring memory resistance to adjust and hold fixed to any particular angle if you plan on holding this in the palm of your hand while you do your makeup but this is a small, small downside.

Gracious, I could swatch this baby over and over.  I have to confess, when I first saw this palette I thought the colors would be too dark for me to pull off but the formula is just so smooth and easy to work with over my primed lids that I could blend easily it out if I packed on just a touch too much and still get an amazing smokey look.  Even the highlight colors are so pigmented that you could relayer and blend it over to cutt back on even the darkest of colors.  Now, I do warn that once this eyeshadow has gotten some time to “set” on your lids, it’s got some sort of anti-smudge/creasing/budging power.  These shadows wear like IRON on my lids, unwavering and no fading for hours.  It’s highly recommended to use a makeup remover with this shadow.  You CAN get it out with water but the amount of scrubbing and effort it’ll take, you should just quit and break out a makeup remover wipe to save yourself the time.

In the first four columns we have Disco Dust, Linzy-Jane, Ace of Spades, and Violator.  Aren’t they just the cutest little names ever?  I giggle at Violator every time I see it just because most other brands like Nars or Too Faced tend to use uber-cute or super-sexy names for their different shades.  These four are an awesome purple set.  Disco Dust is a pearly pink with a bit of a shimmer and makes a lovely highlighter.  Linzy-Jane is a shimmery medium-purple.  Ace of Spades is a rich eggplant with some lighter purple sparkly-bits.  Violator (*giggle*) is a really dark, smoky purple with more purple sparkly-bits and is stellar in the crease.

The second set of swatches are more metal gray colors with Holy Bible, Glock, Dorian Gray, and finally Lucifer.  Holy Bible is a shimmery silver-white that works really well blending with the darker colors for a number of medium shades.  Glock is a shimmery gun-metal shade and I love pairing this with Holy Bible.  Dorian Gray is a shimmery charcoal shade.  Finally there is Lucifer.  It’s an amazing matte black, in fact, the only real matte in the whole palette with no shimmer, glitter, or extras which makes it so very versatile for smoking, blending, and lining outside this palette.  It also happens to appear in a number of Kat Von D palettes so if you have older ones you may already have this bad boy.  I use Lucifer as an eyeliner and am often torn between this one and Urban Decay’s matte black Perversion.

The Mini Puro Amor Black Autograph Pencil Eyeliner is an awesome, handy black pencil liner.  Gorgeous, it glides on smooth with little fading on me.  It does have some minimal smudging over time if I’ve a watery-eyed allergy attack but thankfully in those cases I can just wipe my under eye area with my finger and be rid of the mess with little fuss which is mildly surprising given how difficult it is to remove Sinner’s eyeshadow.  Still, the smudging is no worse than most drugstore liners for me but the fact this just glides on my lids and water line area so rich and smooth in one stroke makes this liner a keeper.

Here’s a style I did to show that you can tame the pigmentation by using a light touch and some blending.  I used Disco Dust as a highlight color on my brow bone and inner eye area.  I brushed Linzy-Jane over my lid blending into the Disco Dust.  Using my crease brush I tapped into Ace of Spades and blended it into my crease for a softer accent than if I had used a heavy hand or if I dipped into Violator.  I touched up with a second blended wash of Disco Dust around the edges to soften the look up for day.  Lastly, I used the Mini Puro Amor Black Autograph Pencil to line my upper lid and half my lower lid  from the outer portion in.  Just a quick press of my eyelash curler and a coat of mascara and I’m ready to go.  I was goofing around tried a thicker pencil line on the upper lid reaching out towards my outer eye for fun.  As you can see, it’s not too insane and you can wear this during the day with plenty of room to darken it up later for a more intense night look.

So my lovelies, if you’re looking for a long-lasting, tough rocker palette or just something uncomplicated for smokey eyes, I do recommend the Sinner palette.  I do warn and you probably could have guessed from the swatches that this palette is not for the neutral, everyday look and may scare away some folks who stick to their guns such as only using neutral bowns like in the UD Naked palettes on a regular basis but from my demo look it IS possible to make this palette soft for the day if you want to try it.  All in all, this palette is very heavy to the metal in more ways than one.

Hope you enjoyed this little adventure and let me know in the comments below if any of you’ve tried this or other Kat Von D products and what you think.  Have something else you want me to explore, pop in the comments as well.  Until next time, stay lovely!

Disney Jasmine Storylook II Review

Good evening lovelies!

Here’s to a very late night review of Jasmine’s Storylook II palette.  I warn you, this is going to be a little photo intense!  Disney and Sephora know how to bring you one helluvah gorgeous collection.

The outer packaging for the palette is spectacular.  I love the genie lamps detailing on the back the different colors in the palette.  There’s even Aladdin’s cheeky quote along the upper flap, “You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”  It may not be Jasmine-specific but it certainly keeps in the flavor of the movie and gives this collection a different flavor from Cinderella’s collection themed around dreams and fairy tales coming true.

Open up the box and the fun just keeps getting better.  The palette’s box is a treat with black lattice revealing a golden enamel Jasmine taking center stage.  The inner drawer is a lush, satiny magenta housing the removable palette.  If you ever manage to use up all the makeup or are able to consolidate your removable Storylook palettes somewhere else, you can reuse the container as a keepsake box.

Total close-ups on what you’ll find inside.  Jasmine’s collection has fifteen different 0.035 oz eyeshadows, 0.12 oz blush in Thrilling Chase, and 0.14 oz bronzer in Golden Sands.  On to swatches!

First Row-Blue Oasis, Trust Me, Abu, Ali Ababwa, Sultana

All were swatched over a basic eyelid primer.  Friend Like Me is a matte powder blue and it swatches out just-okay with primer on my arm but if you want to make that pale blue really pop a little more on your lid, I find putting a white cream base underneath helps otherwise it loses that original color intensity layered over my lid.  I like using Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk 604 when fiddling with that piece but I don’t like that I NEED it to make this shade work at all.  Trust Me is kind of coppery in the swatch which is sort of surprising because I thought it would be pinker from the pan.  Abu is a cocoa brown with shimmer.  I know…it’s really, really hard to see Ali Ababwa and Sultana on my skin tone at all.  Despite the “disappearing act”, Ali Ababwa is a good, solid highlight on my darker eyelid versus how it vanished against my paler wrist.  Sultana is kind of a shimmery champagne.

Second Row-Friend Like Me, Master, Cosmic, Cave of Wonders, Sand in the Glass

This is my favorite row.  Friend Like Me is shimmery medium blue.  Master is a phenomenally dark, plummy purple.  Cosmic is a warm, sandy shimmer.  Cave of Wonders is a shimmery yellow and this makes me pretty darn happy to see this shade because I like yellows and rarely find this color in most palettes that come out as just really yellow…usually standard palettes go for like gold or sand-tone but rarely just a good, strong yellow.  I only have one yellow in my entire collection (courtesy of an unconventional Kat Von D palette) so this gives me more to fiddle with in general.  Finally in this row is Sand in the Glass which is another awesome highlight and this comes out much brighter against my skin tone than Ali Ababwa in the first row.

Third Row-Lapis, Mystical Wonder, Rajah, Arabian Sunset Bazaar

Third row is another treat.  Lapis is a matte blue which looks better in the swatch than it did when I tried to work with it on my lid.  Mystical Wonder is periwinkle which is nice but I have similar shades from the Cinderella palette so this didn’t excite me but if you don’t have the previous Storylook then this is a welcome cooler-toned addition to an otherwise warm palette.  I’ve a soft spot for Rajah, not only because of the tiger but because it’s a beautiful, shimmery orange.  I heart Arabian Sunset as well for being this soft, shimmery coral-pink with warm undertones.  Finally Bazaar makes for a lighter shimmer brown to Abu.

In any case, most of the eyeshadow colors are awesome like Cosmic, Master, Mystical Wonder, Sand in the Glass, and Rajah but there are a few duds in the bunch that are either a touch too powdery or just were a bit off in color from pan to swatch.  I tried working with the Blue Oasis, Friend Like Me, and Lapis on my lid but the blues didn’t have the punch they needed without some serious prep work just to make them look somewhat like they did in the pan beyond what just a basic eyelid primer could do (back to the white cream base).  I ended up tossing out trying to make my lid look a rich blue and just threw Master in the crease then blended out for a smokey purpley-blue look.

Blush-Thrilling Chase and Bronzer-Golden Sands

Finaly blush and bronzer!  These two are fiercely pigmented!  Not my cleanest swatch but you can tell these are jammed with pigmentation that I would like to use Thrilling Chase as a red eyeshadow unless I was very, very delicate with it as a blush and even then I’d blend this baby out.  Don’t let the picture scare you off though!  The blush just looks scary dark but it’s very blendable so I highly recommend tapping your brush gently into the product, don’t swirl, when applying and work your way up.  The bronzer has a touch of shimmer and is lovely to look at.  I think it’s kind of a nice touch that the brand cut out a fourth row of eyeshadow to include these two (Cinderella palette’s original fourth row was just eyeshadow).

Overall I like the set and it certainly adds a nice touch to my collection.  This palette definitely has more warm colors than Cinderella’s Storylook palette which is a plus for a little eyeshadow diversification on my end.  Something to note, however, the overall colors may not work for everyone because they do reach outside some folks’ “comfort zones” with bright reds, and oranges and to note, the blues are nothing to write home about but there’s plenty of safety to be had with the neutrals and the formula is smooth enough you can blend all the shades out for a softer look. Still, if you’re the kind of person who cringes at anything beyond neutrals then you may not get much use out of this palette. I still like this piece and it definitely is a welcome contrast to Cinderella’s color palette.

I’ll have plenty to play with for a while but to be honest, I’m jonesing to see what the Disney summer palette is going to bring!  I want Ariel next or possibly Aurora.  Tiana would also make for an interesting summer palette and depending on princess circle debates (is she/ isn’t she?) Mulan would be an interesting choice for an east Asian themed collection.  I see Belle or Snow White as possible holiday heavy hitters.  :3

Well, what do you think of the Jasmine palette?  Do you have princess predictions for the later seasons?

5/1/13 Update:  Tutorial Using This Palette Here.

Disney’s Jasmine comes to Sephora with a Special Teaser Trailer

The video teaser from Sephora has me excited about the new Disney/Sephora Spring 2013 launch coming in March!  This past holiday season Disney and Sephora released a very classic, feminine launch with Cinderella for Winter 2012 but this season we get to see the sultry but fierce side of Disney’s Jasmine with beautiful jewel and desert tones.  The model’s eyes in the video teaser are gorgeous!  Expect to see a second Storylook Eyeshadow palette, perfume, mini-eyeshadow quad, nail polish set, and mirror compact in this release like in the previous but instead of a set of lipsticks, Sephora is releasing a set featuring a trio of eyeliners (kohl pencil, gel, and liquid) as a special nod to Jasmine’s amazing cat-winged eyes and a separate perfumed body shimmer.

Click to Enlarge, photo via Sephora’s website

Already this launch as received some stirrings on the web. Sephora VIBs got a chance to order online early this week so I put in my order Thursday on the Storylook Eyeshadow Palette Vol. 2 and Jasmine’s Palace Jewel Compact Mirror but today it looks like the compact mirror has already sold out fast on their website! If you had even an INKLING on that Jasmine compact then keep an eye open at your local stores in March and do NOT hesitate to snatch it up fast. Call it my predilection towards shiny things but I really want to collect every one of the Disney princess compact mirrors and these lovelies have a habit of disappearing faster than glass slippers or magic wishes!

Are you psyched about any of the items from this season’s Disney Princess launch and if so what items?  What princess do you want to see next?Update:  Check out my reviews of some of the products in the Disney Jasmine launch!

Jasmine Compact Review

Jasmine Storylook II Review